Construction to begin for $43 million addition

CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier Health System announced it is launching a $43 million investment in the local community. The 24-month expansion project, called the Highland 100, kicked off in January at CHRISTUS Highland Medical Center, located at 1453 East Bert Kouns Industrial Loop, Shreveport. During construction, all hospital departments will remain open and operational.

The Highland 100 plan includes a host of improvements and renovations. Major projects comprise rebuilding, relocating and doubling the size of the emergency room, adding additional inpatient rooms, expanding the cardiac catheterization lab, adding a dedicated entrance for cardiology patients, renovating waiting areas and patient rooms, and relocating outpatient physical therapy to a convenient standalone facility. The aggressive plan responds to a growing demand and the community’s evolving health-care needs.

“This project is future-focused and patient-centered, enabling us to provide improved health-care access for generations to come and the compassionate, faith-based care for which we are known,” said Isaac Palmer, CEO, CHRISTUS Shreveport- Bossier Health System. “We are calling this Highland 100 because it builds on our legacy of more than a century of service to the people of this region. Construction will touch more than 100 patient care areas in the hospital, and brings total investment in this ministry to more than $100 million since our strategic repositioning in 2013.”

CHRISTUS chose a local contractor, Hand Construction, for the Highland 100 project. Hand Construction has worked with CHRISTUS on numerous projects over the past 30 years, most recently the building of CHRISTUS Bossier Emergency Hospital. Construction will occur in a phased approach, ensuring no interruption of health-care services. Palmer described it as a major project inside a living hospital.

“This is an extraordinary time for CHRISTUS Shreveport-Bossier,” said Palmer. “We are grateful to our medical staff for their support and to this community for increasingly choosing CHRISTUS for the care of their families and loved ones. We have such talented associates and physicians at CHRISTUS Highland who will remain patient-focused and dedicated to providing compassionate, quality, faith-based care. Every area will be touched at some point, and every CHRISTUS caregiver will be working together to ensure we maintain our award-winning patient experience in the midst of the construction events.”

– Staff